Allow senders to upload a physically signed document on behalf of their recipient.
Some organizations (or document requirements) mandate physical signatures instead of electronic ones. Additionally, some recipients may prefer not to sign electronically for personal reasons. In these cases, the recipient may return a physically signed document instead of completing the upload process themselves.
To keep the signature process accurate and properly recorded in Acrobat Sign, senders can upload the signed document on behalf of the recipient. This ensures the agreement resumes correctly in the workflow while maintaining a complete audit trail.
How it's used
Only the original sender of the agreement has the authority to upload a physically signed version.
Upon receipt of the physical document, the sender accesses the agreement on their Manage page and uploads it using the Upload Signed Document link in the Actions list on the right of the page.
The audit report tracks this activity, and the agreement resumes the configured signature flow or completes the agreement as per the agreement design.
Best practices
Organizations that do not strictly require electronic or digital signatures may benefit from keeping the written signature option enabled to reduce friction in the signing process. If a group allows written signatures, enabling the Upload Signed Document feature ensures flexibility in handling physically signed agreements.
Managing Written and Digital Signatures
- For agreements requiring digital signatures, turn off the option to request written signatures and prevent recipients from converting the signature flow.
- For organizations using multiple groups, the Users in Multiple Groups setting can help manage signature options by restricting written signature availability for specific groups.
- For organizations that do not accept written signatures, it is recommended to disable:
- The Upload Signed Document feature.
- The ability to send agreements for written signatures.
- The option for recipients to switch to a written signature format.
Configuring these settings ensures agreements align with compliance requirements while maintaining process efficiency.
Configuration
Availability:
Uploading a signed document is available for all license plans.
Configuration scope:
- Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro accounts have the action enabled by default.
- Written signatures are not selectable when sending an agreement through these tiers, but can be converted by recipients with the Allow signers to print, place written signatures and upload the agreement back to Acrobat Sign instead of e-signing it setting.
- Enterprise-licensed accounts can enable or disable the setting at the account and group levels.
To access the feature controls, navigate to Global Settings > Upload Signed Document.
Related settings
Two settings related to the written signature option that should be considered. If you want to disable the option to upload signed documents, you should probably disable the below settings:
Allowing the written signature type will ultimately get you some written signatures. Eventually, you are going to need to upload a physical copy for the signer.
If you have no desire to allow a written signature in any case, disable this signature type so your senders don't have the option to create the situation.
Allowing recipients to convert the signature flow to a written signature style is generally a good idea if you depend on a fast signature process and you have no demand for an electronic signature.
Signers that aren't comfortable with electronic signatures can place a physical signature and the process moves ahead.
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